Teaching Strategies
Use our student-centered teaching strategies to strengthen your students’ literacy skills, nurture critical thinking, and build a respectful and collaborative classroom community.
![An educator walks through instructions for a teaching strategy procedure with students.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/Teaching_Strategies_hero.jpeg?h=78a3dfb3&itok=p8BXuMQa)
Expressing Diversity in Jewish Identity: Blending In and Standing Out
This two-day lesson uses the story of Purim as a frame to examine how Jews have preserved and protected their identities and culture in dominant societies by choosing when to blend in and when to stand out.
![A Jewish family pictured in Yemen](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/GettyImages-607446350.jpg?h=eec5a94e&itok=ZTRvXmoY)
Borders & Belonging
This modular ELA collection for grades 7–12 invites students to explore the complicated world of belonging and the tangible and intangible borders that shape it.
A Part and Apart: Inclusion and Exclusion in Our Jewish Communities
Students consider the benefits and challenges of identity labeling and their identity experiences within and outside their Jewish communities.
Gay Life Under Nazi Rule: The Legacy of Paragraph 175
Students watch survivor testimony from the documentary Paragraph 175 and engage in purposeful reflection about the survivors’ important stories.
![Nazi's standing outside of a building](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-05/1103.jpg?h=2a25a39c&itok=OZxbHBB3)
Being Jewish in the United States
Explore the complexity of Jewish identity with reflections from three teenagers about what being Jewish means to them.
![A woman and a child light a candle as their family gathers during the Passover Seder.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch01_Image04_Medium_res.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=d2t6Z_O3)
Being Jewish in the United States (en español)
Explore the complexity of Jewish identity with reflections from three teenagers about what being Jewish means to them. This resource is in Spanish.
![A woman and a child light a candle as their family gathers during the Passover Seder.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch01_Image04_Medium_res.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=d2t6Z_O3)
The Power of Names Group Work
Students take on assigned roles to collaboratively answer questions that explore the relationship between names, identity, and society.
![Preview of The Power of Names Group Work Handout](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/PowerOfNamesTeaser.png?h=d3d13267&itok=oWhsSMxb)
Becoming Ourselves Group Work
Students use this handout as a guide for reading a personal narrative written by a young person.
![Students sit around a table working on a big paper activity while receiving feedback from an educator.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/ClassroomImage_StudentDiscussion_FH287359.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=jnyJGnz9)
Exploring Community in Three Ways
Students use this graphic organizer to dissect the definition of community.
![Preview of Exploring Community Graphic Organizer](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2024-03/ExploringCommunityTeaser.png?h=d3d13267&itok=QpzOSmCU)
Two Names, Two Worlds Graphic Organizer
Students take on assigned roles to collaboratively answer questions about the poem "Two Names, Two Worlds" by Jonathan Rodriguez.
![Close view of a middle school student in a red sweatshirt writing on a piece of paper with a pencil.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/StudentWriting_FH2101717.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=Q4R75CQ0)